I have a regular computer and recently went to high speed Internet. 12 year old in the house has her own lap-top machine. The installed wireless router worked well on both machines, but after a month or so, the lap-top just will not connect to the Internet. If I disconnect my desk-top machine and connect a wire directly from the lap-top to the wireless router, the lap-top works OK. Any suggestions as to what I should do? (Please answer as if replying to a 5 year old - I have a doctorate, but remain abjectly stupid when it comes to computers!) With many thanks. Jameslei.

Try this. If it doesn't connect then try searching for networks. Yours should be in the list. Has the laptop left the house and been in use anywhere else?

First, make sure the wireless is turned on. Some laptops have a switch that turns the wireless on and off. If the wireless is on there should be a blue light that looks like a radio antenna.

Second, make sure the wireless adapter is looking for your network.

Have you tried running the network diagnostics? What version of windows on the laptop?